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Apr 29, 2022 12:44:30 GMT
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Hi all,
I know this is the sort of thing you could just bash into google but I was wondering if people had experience of petrol going stale and could put a timer on it.
I last started my car on New Years Day. Since then it has been sat in the garage and nothing has changed since. Tried starting it this week and not been having any luck.
I put a bit of easy start into the intake and got a bit of a chug chug out of it. Looked at the plugs and they were wet. I could hear a bit of ignition happening in the exhaust as well but pretty muted, i.e. not a full/proper backfire.
I've done a few basic checks and can't see anything else.
So before I drain half a tank of fuel and clean out the fuel system... is it the likely issue? I think it is but wondered if the fuel could have gone off over that period. It wasn't brand new fuel 4 months ago either... I can't remember exactly how old it is.
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Apr 29, 2022 13:43:15 GMT
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Modern fuel goes off very quickly and leaves deposits of 'varnish' like material that can block jets, injectors and even fuel lines.
On my K-Jet scirocco it was left long enough i had lost one cylinder when i fired it up. In the end i identified no fuel at the injector end and when i removed the injector line i ran some welding wire through it and a load of brown clag was removed. That was car being static outside for about 3 months.
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Needs a bigger hammer mate.......
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Apr 29, 2022 14:08:51 GMT
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If it's going to sit, put super unleaded in as it doesnt go off as quick.
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Apr 29, 2022 14:09:15 GMT
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Hmm, thanks. It does seem like that could be the problem.
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Apr 29, 2022 14:09:57 GMT
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Good idea on the super. I'm already using that in my lawn tractor... only the best for mowing the lawn.
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scmick
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,491
Member is Online
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Apr 29, 2022 23:02:31 GMT
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Have just emptied half a tank full from the SIMCA Rallye 2 I'm working on that has been standing since June last year into my SIMCA coupe. Tried the coupe this morning and it runs spot on. It was Esso super unleaded.
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Apr 29, 2022 23:11:24 GMT
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you can buy long life petrol from lawnmower shops etc, 'Aspen' which is ethanol-free but it is really expensive, like minimum 3 times the price of the crappy petrol. worth considering for laying up a valuable car perhaps. shame it has come to this.
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69 Plymouth Fury Convertible
75 Range Rover 2 door
82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door
78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
78 Datsun 120Y Coupe
78 Datsun 620 Pickup
81 Datsun Urvan E23
86 Datsun Vanette van
98 Electric Citroen Berlingo
00 Electric Peugeot Partner
02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
76 Honda C50
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07 Land Rover 130
15 Nissan E-NV200
15 Fiat Ducato
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,983
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Apr 30, 2022 11:49:03 GMT
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I last filled up my '88 K-Jet Saab 900 early January with E10, when there was about 5l left in the tank. I've been using the car once a month since, so most of the fuel in the tank is now about 4 months old and there's still plenty left a few more months. Last time I used it was yesterday, and it started an ran just fine as always. I last did any serious mileage about 8 years ago, and other than on one or two long trips, I usually fill up about 3 times a year, always with the cheapest fuel available.
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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Apr 30, 2022 15:06:32 GMT
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My 55 Chevy was last filled up around September last year and has not moved since October, it still starts with no problems. My chainsaws and lawn mower have sat with petrol in the tanks since last summer and start without any problems. Although petrol definitely doesn't last a long as it used to I don't buy into this "It only lasts a couple of months" talk.
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I think if it's sloshing about when the car is being used once a week it probably wouldn't be so bad. But mine is just sitting in the garage and maybe the tank isn't totally airtight or something.
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Please don't throw away your expired, gone off ethanol products, vodka, gin, etc. stuck in the cupboard for years on end. I will happily take them of your hands and save you the recycling effort  |
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,805 
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I last filled up my '88 K-Jet Saab 900 early January with E10, when there was about 5l left in the tank. I've been using the car once a month since, so most of the fuel in the tank is now about 4 months old and there's still plenty left a few more months. Last time I used it was yesterday, and it started an ran just fine as always. I last did any serious mileage about 8 years ago, and other than on one or two long trips, I usually fill up about 3 times a year, always with the cheapest fuel available. Very similar to myself with my MR2, although in my case E5, not E10. I've owned the car for 18 years and before I retired I worked offshore on a 3 week on 3 week off rota so it always had fuel sitting in the tank for long (2/3 months wouldn't be unusual) periods of time, it's always started first turn every time and runs perfectly, same now as 18 years ago irrespective of changes to fuel recipes. Up until the recent E10 change it got run on the cheapest fuel available, I did run comparison tests with various fuels/grades and couldn't find any difference. Now running it on Ultimate/V-power since Mr T doesn't advise using E10 in it. |
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,983
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My '70 Saab 96 V4 is in my workshop in the Netherlands, so gets used only when I'm there and is often sitting for almost a year without use. I run it on E5 when I can get it (many smaller petrol stations in NL only do E10 and diesel), but I happily fill up with E10 if that's the only thing available. It usually takes a little cranking and brake cleaner in the intake to get it started after a year, but after that it always works as it should.
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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I really like ethanol as a fuel. Having done a diy remap on a Fiat Coupe to run on E85 I learnt loads and quickly came to the conclusion its a superior fuel in many respects, obviously it does have some drawbacks but on the whole it gets a bum rap. Not least this issue about fuel going off. The key thing seems to be storing the fuel in closed containers - including the vehicle fuel tank (the tank should not vent to open air) but even then the "glaze" issue left by evap is caused by the petrol not the ethanol.
Personally I've never seen petrol based fuel "go off" as such but years ago I experienced a blocked carb from petrol glaze in a chainsaw I laid up for 2 years without any precautions except for draining the tank and the residual petrol dried out (vented fuel cap). Entirely my fault.
In a good closed fuel system I don't believe petrol "goes off".
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Agreed, it does go stale very quickly in my experience; a brand new (German brand) mower we bought and used last spring/summer was left with regular unleaded in over winter and was a PITA to get started this spring, and my Minor Traveller has been suffering misfiring issues due I think to sitting over the winter period (fortunately with just a small amount in the tank), while I changed the gearbox.
Seems it will go off after maybe just a month or two, even if stored in a shed or garage; maybe timbo1956 is just one of the lucky ones...
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,805
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Seems it will go off after maybe just a month or two, even if stored in a shed or garage; maybe timbo1956 is just one of the lucky ones... Sounds like I've been lucky for years as well.......  |
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,983
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Jun 16, 2022 15:51:35 GMT
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I last filled up my '88 K-Jet Saab 900 early January with E10 [...] Started on three cylinders this morning, still on the same fuel from January, and it's been about a month since I last used it. A little throttle and it ran and idled fine again. Could be coincidence, or could be the fuel going off, who knows. Now refuelled, so the experiment starts afresh.  |
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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My '63 Riley sits in its garage from October to April every year. After giving its battery a boost it always starts and runs OK. It splutters a bit at first but within a short time (maybe a couple of minutes) it settles down and ticks over quite happily.
It just gets left, as it would if I was going out in it the next day, and it's never let me down - yet...
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Jun 19, 2022 20:42:22 GMT
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When I worked in the motorcycle trade everything that came in had the tank drained leaving only the minimum in. Anything performance would invariably need fresh fuel before it would fire up, even if it had been sat less than a month.
Something like a C90 or a trials bike would start easily on anything slightly flammable
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Jun 19, 2022 22:36:21 GMT
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I wish my Fiver 125 would start so easily, having been left now for a couple of months or so, but then the Yuasa battery (only a couple of years old) goes flat after only a few tries with the starter motor, so probably time for a new battery...
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